The present invention relates in general to electronic projectile games and in particular to a missed-hit detection and player proximity detection system for an electronic, automatically scored projectile target game apparatus wherein a preselected number of projectiles are thrown by the users of said game at a target portion in order to activate scoring therein.
While projectile target games employing moving segments to close electronic switches and thereby generate scoring signals have been previously used, few if any have addressed the problem of darts or the like, which miss the target portion of the game and are therefore not scored, but likewise are not detected as having been thrown, thereby enabling the player to have what constitutes a "free throw". Similarly, such automatic scoring projectile games have failed to adequately address the problem caused by players which approach the target portion while the scoring system is in an activated mode and either intentionally or otherwise, touch the target so as to generate a false score.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a player proximity detection system which will detect the presence of a player within a proscribed distance range from the front of the game and automatically deactivate the scoring system, thereof so as to prevent any false scores.
It is further and object of the present invention to provide a "missed-hit" detection system for detecting and counting as a non-scoring throw, any projectile or dart, which misses the target, yet strikes the front of the game.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a system which not only automatically deactivates the scoring system whenever a player comes within the proscribed range, but also automatically and immediately reactivates the scoring system and renders the game otherwise ready to use, as soon as that player retreats behind that proscribed range so as to obviate the need for pushing of reset buttons and accompanying delays in play before the game is once again ready to accept projectiles from the players.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be demonstrated by the following specification.